Self-closing door



June 27, 1933. M -COPE ET AL 1,915,595

SELF CLOS ING DOOR Filed May 18, 19:51

W I INVVENTIORSL 1W W'll 1| ATTORNEY.

Patented June 2?, 1933 rare MAURICE corn, or

i A PATNT orrcE KINGSLEY, AND ERNEST W. PAULSGN, OF HINTON, IOWASELF-CLOSING DOOR Application filed May 18,

sure is required for opening'thcm than in the structure of the Cope Afurther object of this invention is to provide in a structure oi' thischaracter, an arrangement for adjusting the primary closure members sothat their meeting edges will snugly register when the door is closed.

A further object is to provide, in a door of the type of the Copepatent, an auxiliary closure structure. wherein the auxiliary closuremembers are mountedso that they can- 0 not be broken oii. In thisrespect, it may be stated that it has been-found that a sudden rush fromwithin against the auxiliary closure members by a small pig is capableof breaking off one or both ofthese auxiliary closure members, or ofloosening them on their mountings so as to render their operationimperfect.

' A. further object is to provide in a structure of the type underconsideration, a pair of auxiliary closure members so constructed thattheir inner edges cannot possibly injure the sides or a pig when thelatter is passing between them, and yet which are of relatively simple,and durable construction.

Another object is to provide in a door of this type, an arrangementwhereby when the door is closed there will be no exposed cracks orspacesfor the entrance of cold air into the housing structure closed bythe door.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door having the abovecharacteristics, and yet which is of very simple, durable, andinexpensive construction.

With these and other objects in view, our invention consists in theconstruction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of ourdevice, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in our claims,

1931. Serial No. 538,026.

and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which: j

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the door, Figure 2 is a plan View ofthe same, Figure 3 is a front elevation of the door' inopen position,

Figure 1 is a central, vertical, sectional view through the, door.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, detail view of one of the auxiliary membermountings, and p Figure 6 is a detail, sectional View through theupperend of one of the auxiliary closure members.

The door of this invention comprises a doorway constructed with theupright posts or battenslO and the casing members 11 and 12- which arecut away to con-jointly form the door opening 13.

A metal reinforcing member .15 is secured horizontally to the casingmember 11 near its upper edge and serves as a bracket for supportingthedoor hangers 16 and 17. The

member 15' has the portions 14 disposed forwardly of the plane of theportions 15 which are secured as at 18 to the casing member 11, and tothese forward portions 1 1, the hangers 16 and 17 are pivoted as at 19and 20.

To the lower ends ofthe hangers 16 and 17 are pivoted as at 21 and 22respectively he primary closure members 23. The pivots 21 and 22 areparallel to the pivots 19 and 20, thereby causing the closure members 23to swing in constantly parallel relationship to each other.

In order to keep the primary closure members 23 adjusted so that theyare exactly parallel and so that their inneredges willcregister snuglywhen closed, the hangers 17 are made adjustable for length. Any approvedtelescoping or turn-buckle type of construction might beemployedalthough we prefer, for simplicity, to use the constructionshown wherein one end of each hanger 17 is a rod as shown, threaded asat'24: and wherein the other end of the hanger is an L shaped piece ofstrap metal 25 perforated to receive the threaded rod portion 24, andsecured thereto by nuts 26 and 27 engaging between them, a tri-angularshaped opening.

A filler block 29 is secured to the casing member 12 near the bottomthereof and its.

side edges are inclined at the angle of the cut-away edges 28 and justthe right distance apart to substantially engage the lower extremitiesof-Jsaidedges 28 when the primary closure members are closed.

, Guide straps 30 are secured to thevfiller blocks 29 and to the casingmember 12, being provided with shoulder portions-31 spacing their outerextremities away from the cas: ing f member 12 1a distance.substantially greater than their spacing at their inner ends. At theirinner ends, the guide straps members 23 to hold them snugly against thespaced sothat there will be no friction between the clasure members andthe guide of thedoors.

"In operation, assuming the doors'jt'o be '9 opened as shown. in Figure3, and then to be released, allowed to swingbacltto closed positions,they will attain sufficient momentum in thus swinging to wedgethemselves securely between the straps 30. and easing member 12 at theinner limitsof their swings. Thus they will be held securely in snugengagement with thecasing member 12' so as to close the opening 13against the admission of cold air, and yet very little outwardpressurewillbe necessaryto disengage-themfrom this wedging fit and to again:move them" outwardly toward open position. 1

Owing to the fact that the closure members swingparallel to eachother,'the extent of movement required to completely open them I is onlythat necessary to bring the lines of their'perpendicular inner edgestoregister with the side extremities of the door open- .ing 13. In theoldtype of door wherein the primary closure members were pivoted toswing in arcuate paths,- the closure members 1 would have to swingupwardlytoalmost horizontal. positionsbefore the door opening would becompletely disclosed. To put the matter inversely, assuming the oldpivoted closure members to have been "swung to positions where theircenters of gravity have been lifted the same distance as is sufficientto fully open the closure members of the presentinvention, their upperextremities would overlap the door opening and provide a trigngularshaped opening very narrow at the op.

" Intheoldstyle of door, if an animal large 30,,being secured flatlyagainst the filler block 29, will engage the primary closure braced.

enough to require substantially all of the space of the door openingforpassage were to bearing would move toward the pivots of the closuremembers as the latter were moved hlgher. But as the regions of bearingmoved toward the pivots of the closure members,

the pressure of the closure members against the back of the hog would bemultiplied by theiincreased height of the closure members and by thegreater leverage caused "by the moving of the points of contact closerto the fulcrums around which thetweightsof the closure membersweretexerted. d

The present invention reduces the pressur of the closure members againsttheback of a hog to such an "extent thatthe animals may pass through thedoorjwith veryilittle dilliculty. This is due partly to the fact thatthe door becomes fully opened when the closure members have movedrelatively short distances and partly due to the fact that the areas ofcontact do not shift-upwardly. straps such as to retard the swingingactlon site edge of the body portion 32 are for reinforcing purposes.

In the old styl'eof structure whereinthe rolled edges 33were terminatedin a sharp edge, it was possible for a pig to injure itself against thisedge, but by providing the extension 34 and securingit to the bodyportion as at 35", the sharp edge is eliminated, and the rolled portionis reinforced and Each auxiliary closure member is provided at its upperend with a hinge including the-hinge leaf 37 secured to the body portion32 and the hinge leaf 38 secured to the primary closure member 23. Theleaves 37 and 38 are provided respectively with hinge sleeves 39 and 40which register with each other and are connected by a-hinge pin 41 whichis bent back upon itself as at 42 to providea projecting portion 43around which is coiled a hinge spring 44. One end 45 ofthe spring 44engages beneath the pin portion 42 and the other end 46 engages againstthe pin leaf 37. It will now be seen that the action of the spring issuch as to retain the extended pin portion 43 in a position above thehinge loops and'at the same time to exert inward pressure against theauxiliary closure member so as to urge it flatly against the primaryclosure member 23.

'The hingeleaf 38 is pivoted as at 47 to the primary closure member 23,and a stop sure members may swing laterally til 48 limits movement ofthe an: ilia ry clc lure member inwardly beyond a position where in itsrolled edge 33 is perpendicular.

It will now be seen that the auxiliary cloparallel to the doorway, andat the same time may swing outwardly away from the plane of the doorway.The advantage of this arrangement lies in the fact that a sudden rushfrom a pig from within the housing structure will merely push theauxiliary closure members away from the door.

A further advantage is the fact that in pushing the auxiliary closuremembers away from the door, it becomes easy for the pig to make apreliminary opening between the members through which his snout may beinserted, and further pressure will result in pivotal swinging movementof the auxiliary members.

The auxiliary closure members overlap the filler block 29 at their lowerends and thus completeclosure against the entrance of cold air isprovided.

Some changes may be made inthe con struction and arrangement of theparts of our invention without departing from the real spirit andpurpose of our invention, and it is our intention to cover by our claimsany modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents whichmay be reasonably included within their scope. I

We claim as our invention:

1. In a selt-closing door, a doorway, a pair of closure elements,arranged inside by side relationship, a pair of hangers suspending eachclosure element from the doorway, each hanger being pivoted at its lowerendto a closure element and at its upper end to the doorway, the partsbeing arranged so that the closure elements will maintain substantiallyupright positions while swinging laterally to disclose the door opening.

2. In a self-closing door, a doorway, a pai of primary closure elementsmounted upon said doorway in side by side relationship and movable awayfrom each other to disclose the door opening, the lower corners of saidprimary closure elements being cut away to provide between them anauxiliary opening, a pair of. auxiliary closure elements, and meanssuspending said auxiliary elements from the primary closure elements,said means comprising hinges secured to the auxiliary closure elementsand pivoted to the primary closure elements to allow the auxiliaryclosure elements to swing in their common plane away from each other,the axes of said hinges being parallel to said common plane so as toallow said auxiliary closure elements to swing away from the primaryclosure elements in directions transverse to said common plane.

3. In a self-closing door, a doorway, a pair of primary closure elementsmounted upon said doorway in side by side relationship and movable awayfrom each other to disclose the door opening, the lower corners of saidprimary closure elements being cut away to provide between them anauxiliary opening, a pair of auxiliary closure elements, and meanssuspending said auxiliary elements from the primary closure element-s,said means comprising hinges secured to the auxiliary closure elementsand pivoted to the primary closure elements to allow the auxiliaryclosure elements to swing in their common plane away from each other,the axes of said hinges being parallel to said common plane so as toallow said'auxiliary closure elements to swing away from the primaryclosure elements in directions transverse to said common plane, andresilient means urging said auxiliary closure elements into face to facecontact with the primary closure elements. J

4. In a self-closing door, a doorway, a pair of primary closure elementsmounted upon said. doorway in side by side relationship and movable awayfrom each other to disclose the. door opening, the lower corners of saidprin'iary closure elements being cut away to provide between. them anauxiliary opening, a pair of auxiliary closure elements, and meanssnispending said auxiliary elements from the primary closure elements,said means comprising a pair of hinges each ineluding a hinge leafsecured to an auxiliary closure element and provided with a hingesleeve, a hinge leaf pivoted to the corresponding primary closureelement and provided with a hinge sleeve. a hinge pin received throughboth of said sleevesand bent back upon itself to form a hooked portion,and a coil spring receiving said hooked portion, one end of the springbeing engaged against the hinge leaf which is secured to the auxiliaryclosure element and the other end of said spring being caught beneaththe bent por- 7 ion of the hinge pin.

5. In a selt-closin door, a doorway, a pair of primary closure elementsmounted thereon in side by side relationship and movable away from eachother to disclose the door opening, the lower corners of said primaryclosure ele ments being cut away to provide between them an auxiliaryopening, a pair of auxiliary closure elements mounted on said primaryclosure elements in side by side relationship and movable away from eachother to disclose said auxiliary opening, and a filler block secured tothe door opening, positioned to fill the space between the lower edgesof the primary closure elements, the auxiliary closure elementsoverhanging said filler block.

6. In a self-closing door, a doorway, a pair of closure elements mountedthereon in side by side relationship for movement away from each otherto disclose the door opening, and a pair of guides secured to thedoorway,

spaced therefrom, and overlapping the lower ends of the closureelements, thespaces between vsaid guides and the doorway being narrowedprogressively from the outer extremities to the inner extremitiesthereof so as to provide a wedging fit for the lower ends of the closureelements at the inner ends of said spaces and to allow the closureelements to swing freely in the outer regions of said spaces.

v7. In a self-closing door, a doorway, a pair of primary closureelements, arranged in side by side relationship, a pair of hangers sus-'pending each primary closure element from the doorway, each hanger beingpivoted at its lower end to a closure element and at its upper end tothe'doorway, the parts being arranged so that the closure elements willmaintain substantially upright positions while swinging laterally todisclose the door opening, the lower corner of said primary closureelements being cut awayto provide between them an auxiliary opening, anda pair of auxiliary closure elements pivoted at their upper ends to theprimary closure elements and depending in side by side relationship toclose said auxiliary opening, said auxiliary closure elements beingformed of sheet metal, and each on its inner side being bent back uponitself to provide a rolled portion, the edge portion thereof beingin-con r tact with the main body portion of the auxiliary closureelement and secured thereto.

Signed at Sioux City, Iowa, this 12th day of May, 1931.

MAURICE COPE. ERNEST W. PAULSON.

